St. Paul daily globe., 1887-12-02

through the wafer III very ulHoTcHC
style from the crawling pace customary
to Norwegian boats OH ordinary Occa-
Si0nS. As it drew nearer we could see
that, besides the plainly clad men and
white-capped women, there were two
brides ON board. The whole village,
needless to say, turn ed out to see the
sight, and pretty scene was formed by
the groups of women and girls, their
white caps and scarlet bodiceS shining
in the sun.
AS | stood among the crowd and no
ticed the details of their dress was
struck with the peatneSS and finish of it
all, AMI the care which is bestowed on
small details. One old dame wore the
usual dark blue gown, but the sleeves
were relieved with the neatest pea
green cuffs sewn to the dress with inde-
Scribable care and finish. The close
black cap she wore was edged with
piping of yellow, and beneath was a
shrewd, kindly face. The green dye:
which reappearS on various articles OF
going out of fashion, is made from a
kind of ''StagShorlI" moss, which grows
freely OH the hillSideS.
The two brides and their friends are
handed out by the bOatmen. and then
with some show of fuss and Importance
there are lifted out of the boat Sundry
Odd-looking boxes whose purposes and
contents | was at loss to divine. Then
the whole party stands still, SOlemnly,
each bridegroom having his bride on his
arm, and the fiddler faces them and
strikes up tune. He beats his foot on
the ground and ScrapeS away at his
curious instrument, a kind known as
the 'Hardanger VIOLIN" and reels out
lively Norwegian tunes, They were
strange airs to me, but L Imagine they
were ''haIlings," or perhaps marches.
| do not know why this pause was
clergyman, who was expected every
moment by the steamer, the steamer
which unfortunately was to carry me
and my friends away.
However, the pause gave me an OPP
portunity of noticing the brides and
their dresses. They lO.h wore the
huge, ungainly crown which is to the
Norwegian bride what the wreath of or
ange blossoms is to her American SIS
ter. The dark-blue skirt was for this
occasion replaced by one of bright scar
let, embroidered with bold pattern in
the wool near the hem. The full white
skirt remained as usual, but the bodice
was mass of beadwork, while the belt
was made of massive links OF silver.
Large silver ornaments danged from
the side of the crown, large silver
brooch was at the throat, and each
bride had a fine muslin apron with a
pretty piece of needlewOrk let in. after
the Norwegian fashion, near the hem.
The patterns of this work, which is gem
orally crochet, are remarkably good,
and the crochet washes admirably. The
brides wore their hair hanging down their
backs. and one Offici0uS bridesmaid L
noticed taking great pans to prevent
the brides locks from being blown
about by the wind. / looked in their
faces, but in this instance there was
little to admire. One was young, but
the other was fairly advanced in life,
and neither could be called pretty. L
imagine that marriages i'll Norway have
often to be postponed for long time
until a vacant farm or homestead falls
to the turn of the young people.
OF the bridegrOOmS there is little to be
said. They were plain, hOneSt-loOklng
fellows, dressed almost exactly like our
sailors, except for broad, soft, wide
awake hat The knee breeches, fast
ened with silver buttons, formerly worn
in this country. are fast disappearing
from the peasants costume, and a plain
blue coat, jacket and trousers are now
generally worn. The men look exactly
like EngliShmen of the northern cOun-
ties. with their fair hair, and, as we
should say, Saxon cast of features.
But now the procession begins to
move. The fiddler leads the way, still
playing, and the bridal party sets out
on its way to church. At the same time
the whistle of the steamer is heard and
the vessel steams up to the short quay,
which is all that is needed on the steep
shores of the ford. The clergyman, a
tall, fine looking man, steps off the boat,
and we must perforee step on, and so
we see no more of the wedding eere-
mony. They will dance the ''hailing"
merrily tonight, we are told. Formerly
they kept the revels up for three nights,
but now these festivities are cut short,
and one night is considered enough.